Safety CaUsation, Benefits and Efficiency (SafetyCube) was a European Commission supported Horizon 2020 project running from May 2015 to April 2018. Its main objective was to develop an innovative road safety Decision Support System (DSS) that enables policy-makers and stakeholders to select and implement the most appropriate strategies, measures and cost-effective approaches to reduce casualties of all road user types and all severities. The core of the project was a comprehensive analysis of road safety risks (problems) and measures (solutions), including cost-benefit of measures. The method focused on road users, infrastructure, vehicles and injuries framed within a systems approach. Involvement of road safety stakeholders at the national level, EU level and beyond has be sought at all stages.
The European Road Safety DSS (www.roadsafety-dss.eu) is the first integrated road safety support system developed in Europe. The DSS goes above and beyond existing decision support systems by:
- Providing scientific evidence for both road safety risks and measures
- Taking a holistic approach considering road users, infrastructure, vehicles, and post impact care.
- Presenting a very large number of estimates for risk and measure effects
- Demonstrating the links between risk factors and respective measures.•
- Applying a common ranking system; colour codes are applied to all risks and measures so it is possible to compare the relative risk and effectiveness of risks and measures.
- Providing cost benefit analysis examples for selected measures.
- Providing guidelines for the estimation of MAIS3+ injuries to obtain estimates that are better comparable between countries.
The SafetyCube DSS aims to be a reference system for road safety in Europe that is improved and enhanced over time. Its objective is to provide the European and Global road safety community a user friendly, web-based, interactive Decision Support Tool
- To properly substantiate their road safety decisions
- For the actions, measures, programmes, policies and strategies
- To be implemented at local, regional, national, European and international level.
The DSS is intended to be used by a whole range of users including public authorities, industry, researchers and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs).
The main contents of the SafetyCube DSS concern:
- Road accident risk factors and problems
- Road safety measures
- Best estimate of effectiveness
- Economic Efficiency Evaluations (E3 Calculator)
- Serious injuries
- All related analytic background
Taxonomies were created to describe the risk factors and measures relevant to the road user, infrastructure, vehicle and, for measures only, post impact care. These taxonomies provide the framework for the content of the DSS. A two-tier accident scenario taxonomy with eight broad types of crashes and more specific subcategories was also devised.
In total, 1301 individual studies and 211 synopses were included in the DSS as well as 36 Economic Efficiency Evaluation (E3) example analyses. In addition, six accident scenario ‘fact-sheets’ were created based on in-depth accident data from the French VOIESUR database. Links between risks and measures were made in the DSS at the lowest level of the SafetyCube taxonomy. The relationship between risks and measures is a “one-to-many” relationship, as each risk factor can be addressed by different measures, and each measure may mitigate different risk factors. A holistic approach was taken, meaning that measures from one area e.g. infrastructure could be linked with a risk factor from another e.g. road user. Links were also made in the DSS between the accident scenarios and risk factors and measures.
In reflection of the increasing use of serious injuries as a road safety indicator, SafetyCube also had a particular focus on serious injuries (MAIS3+). The work in this area involved:
- Providing guidelines for estimating the number of serious road casualties
- Examining the impacts and costs of serious road injures
- Investigating the risk factors associated with serious road injuries
The SafetyCube Decision Support System can be freely accessed here: www.roadsafety-dss.eu . A ‘Quick guide’ has been created to guide users though the DSS. It is strongly recommended that this is read before using the DSS. The Quick guide can be found on the homepage of the DSS and via this web address:
www.roadsafety-dss.eu/assets/data/pdf/A.Quick.Guide.to.the.SafetyCube.DSS.pdf.
All content on the DSS can be accessed via the menu at the top of the screen (Search, Knowledge, Calculator, Methodology, Support). ‘Search’ provides access to all synopses and individual studies as well as links between risk factors and measures, structured through the SafetyCube taxonomy. ‘Knowledge’ gives direct access to all synopses, serious injury information and accident scenario fact sheets and ‘Calculator’ is where the E3 calculator and SafetyCube E3 examples can be found. The ‘Methodology’ menu option provides information about the SafetyCube project and a link to the project website where project reports can be found. It also provides information about the SafetyCube methodology used to generate content for the DSS, the scope and limitations of content as well as a Glossary that defines key terms that are used within the DSS. Finally, there is information on the quality assurance processes implemented to ensure the content of the DSS met the highest possible scientific standard and was consistent across the different work areas. Finally, the ‘Support’ menu option provides contact details, another link to the Quick Guide and links to alternative decision support systems.
The DSS is not intended to be a static tool. The intention is that further funding will be sought to develop, expand and update the DSS. The DSS was developed for a very broad range of users and aimed to cover as many topic areas as possible. However inevitably due to this wide-ranging approach and the time constraints of a project with a finite timeline, not all topics could be covered and not all relevant studies could be included. In addition, not all feedback from stakeholders could be incorporated during the SafetyCube project but these could be developed in future versions of the DSS.
Although the SafetyCube project has ended, the individuals involved will continue to promote its work and the DSS. To assist with this a short promotion video was created: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-mVUde3knU.The SafetyCube consortium believes that the DSS will be a key tool, assisting in evidenced based policy making both now and in the future.
